The Lost Century
by Going Batty
Summary: The Warehouse receives a shock when a person from H.G. Wells' past reappears.  The team must race the clock to figure out the stranger's - and Helena's - true intentions before it's too late for them... and the rest of humanity.
1. Message

_**"The Warehouse receives a shock when a person from H.G. Wells' past reappears. The team must race the clock to figure out the stranger's - and Helena's - true intentions before it's too late for them... and the rest of humanity. "**_

* * *

**Hey, hey, hey. Orin and Mind here bringing you our first co-written fic. B] This starts to take place after Vendetta when Helena is reinstated in the Warehouse and will loosely follow the season's timeline. Although there will be a lot of time in-between those episodes for our own timeline. ..yeah so whatever else is suppose to go here just pretend it's here. And here we go. o uo**

**(We do not own any characters nor scenery related to Warehouse 13. They belong to their rightful owners. )  
**

* * *

**The Lost Century**

Introduction:

_Message_

SOMEWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC, 2010.

Drip. Drip. Drip. The sound of water falling from the stalactites on the ceiling of the cave and onto an ever growing puddle below was one of the few sounds that could be heard. The other sound, excluding the small insect life and bats that also made the occasional cry, was the nearly silent footsteps of a rather slim-built, brunette woman whom was walking out of the dank and dark cave that she had called 'home' for many years. Something had triggered the alarm inside. Usually, it was an airplane, though she hasn't seen those in years. _Must have learned their lesson._ Or perhaps it was a wayward ship drifting a little too close to her three corners of the ocean. Making her way out she paused at the mouth of her cave she stared at the rather small package setting on a rock along with a small mechanical bird that cooed at her when she came by. Utter confusion showed in her one visible blue-colored eye as she picked it up. It was a thin, rectangular shaped-object held together by twine with no return address, or even a to address. The only thing written on it was the year 1899 in a nicely-written, cursive penmanship.

Could it be..? Quickly ripping off the wrapping of the package, the woman stared wide-eyed at it. It was The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. It was a very old copy, that the woman could tell, but it was tenderly loved evident that it seemed it was only opened once and unworn. Touching the cover ever so lightly, she noticed a short bookmark that stuck out from inside the book. Quickly, the woman opened the page to where the bookmark stayed. It was Chapter 12, the very first page, and even the very first sentence that was marked. It read "So I came back."

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**a/n: love it? hate it? review it either way! 8D And don't worry, it'll pick up eventually. n_n  
**


	2. Invisible

**Hey, Orin here. ;) I'd like to thank everyone who's read this (and is reading this; yes, that means you). Again, neither Mind nor I own anything, but you all knew that.  
**

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[BADLANDS, SOUTH DAKOTA - 2010]

The bird was a brilliant idea, really. She'd found it buried deep within the current Warehouse. It was a small, mechanical pigeon of the Racing Homer breed, not unlike carrier pigeons used back in the day. _My day_, the woman mused. This particular bird, already known for its speed, had the uncanny ability to cover large distances in relatively short amounts of time. This proved to be useful for those wishing to convey urgent messages during the war. The mechanical aspect of it allowed it to travel without stopping or tiring as a real bird might, as well as eliminated any natural bodily functions. The only downside was the cost of the materials used to produce the bird. As a result, only one was actually created.

This very mechanical bird was a part of history. It was this bird that carried messages between the Australians and the Americans during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and ultimately enabled the Allies to organize themselves well enough to overpower the Japanese in only three days.

In spite of all this, the bird remained unused. That fact surprised her. Surely, something so useful would be used often. Then again, however, this _was_ the twenty-first century. There was technology to consider, such as cordless telephones and electronic mail – _e-mail_, she reminded herself. _It's called e-mail._ So, because of the current world's technology rendering items such as this useless, it was in the Warehouse for good.

Or at least, it should have been. "I do hope she remembers," H.G. Wells muttered to herself as she attached a small parcel to the bird. "I shouldn't think that a century is _too_ long..." There. She stepped back as the bird spread its mechanical wings and sped out the window of her room. Helena sat on the bed and picked up the compact beside her, turning it over and over in her fingers and staring at it without actually seeing it.

It's amazing, isn't it, how much of history can be explained by the artifacts popping up in their respective time periods? And to think that most of the human population know nothing of the truth behind their history, instead accepting amazing feats as miracles or just plain luck... This was how many of these objects ended up out in the world today, causing chaos among the general public.

The recipient of H.G.'s gift was definitely alive. She knew that for certain, even without an artifact letting her know for certain. She herself had taken steps to ensure this was so. The woman in red had always excelled at following directions, particularly when it came to her inventions. They'd learned the consequences of not following instructions to the letter early on, after the invisibility incident. Thank _god_ they'd been able to reverse the effects rather quickly. It was this fiasco that later inspired her story The Invisible Man, although the titular character wasn't nearly as lucky as Helena and her partner at the time had been...

* * *

[FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS - 1892]

_"This should work," Helena told her partner as they huddled beside each other, in front of her sketches. "On three?"_

_ "On three," the other woman confirmed._

_ "One..." They clasped their hands together. The woman's copper compact was held fully open in Helena's left hand, reflecting the faces of the two dark-haired women.  
_

_ "Two..." If this worked, they'd have an advantage over those using artifacts to do misdeeds: they'd be able to creep up on them, undetected until the last possible moment. This would hopefully allow them to acquire artifacts much more easily; the holders of artifacts wouldn't know to flee until it was too late._

_ "Three." The device held in the other woman's right hand activated with a whirr and the two agents faded from view. The only way for either to be sure of the other's presence was by their clasped hands._

_ The women stood in shocked silence for minutes, each hardly daring to move for fear of becoming separated. It worked! It really worked! Those long months of research, the even longer test periods... it was well worth the wait._

_ Finally, Helena spoke. "We've got to find her before she kills the rest of her family." _

_ Her partner snorted. "How was I to know it was an artifact?" The two women had been the ones to present the compact to Elizabeth as a gift between friends only weeks earlier. The two had heard just the day before that their dear friend Elizabeth "Lizzie" Borden had murdered her parents. The compact was the only thing that could explain this behaviour. Lizzie loved her parents more than anything in the world. And, to think that something could have affected her that badly..._

_ "It's not your fault, dear. However, we've got to get it back."_

_ "That is true, Helena. So, after we retrieve the compact, how do we become visible?"_

_ "..."_

_ "..."_

_ "Oh dear."_

* * *

[BADLANDS, SOUTH DAKOTA - 2010]

Thankfully, all it took was a simple potion – again, Helena's handiwork – to reverse the effects once the gadgets were turned off and put away. Looking back, Helena realized that many of her stories reflected on her work as a Warehouse agent. The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The Island of Dr. Moreau... and one of her stories, When the Sleeper Wakes, almost seemed to reflect her current predicament. An ordinary human in an extraordinarily deep sleep wakes up over a century after their time, and everything had changed...

A loud knock on the door jolted Helena out of her thoughts, and she hurriedly slipped the compact into her pocket. "Yes?"

Pete opened the door and stuck his head into the room. "Uh, yeah. Hi. Listen, Artie wants all of the agents downstairs, said something about Claudia getting a 'ping' and an artifact popping up... sooo yeah. Downstairs."

She couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, Peter." She adjusted her vest – vests nowadays were oh-so-comfy, as was clothing in general – and strolled downstairs to the living room, where the Warehouse agents of 2010 were gathered.


	3. Weather

**A/N: Hey, Orin speaking. Mind and I are back with the weekly installment of The Lost Century! As stated previously, we own nothing. Nothing except the ideas that pop out of our brains at two in the morning and the sweat and blood poured into this fic. (Just kidding about the last bit. ;) ) I'd also like to thank those who've read this so far, and who will read this in the days to come.**

**Anyway, because I have a tendency to ramble, I'll stop this here and get on with the fic!**

* * *

[BADLANDS, SOUTH DAKOTA - 2010]

Myka absentmindedly tapped a pen against the table while she and the others waited for Helena to come down. She had been ecstatic when she learned that Helena was reinstated and, God forbid, not rebronzed. The others' feelings had been varied. Claudia, at first, was nervous and apprehensive, but soon warmed up to Helena. She'd even started asking questions and getting tips about inventing from the "mother of science fiction." Pete was indifferent, until he learned he had another "Myka" to annoy. Artie had been, well, for lack of a better word... a downright prick.

"Hello, everyone. Sorry," Helena apologized as she slid into a seat between Pete and Myka.

Artie scowled and picked up a manila folder. "Finally! We don't have all day to laze around!" He glared at the group as a whole, but it seemed to Myka that his gaze lingered on Helena a little longer than the rest. "You, agents..." Here, he paused to eye Claudia, as if seeing her for the first time. "_Agents_," he repeated.

Claudia rolled her eyes. "I'm practically an agent, Artimus. Remember? You sent me out in the field once, dude. Or are you getting forgetful in your old age?" She and Pete did an air high-five.

"I wish you would let me forget," he grumbled, sounding almost... playful? Myka raised an eyebrow at her boss. This was new behavior. Artie hurriedly cleared his throat and continued.

"Anyway, agents–"

"I got a ping," Claudia interrupted. Artie shot her the stink-eye, and she held her hands up in front of her, as if to protect herself. "Sorry, sorry, please continue." Pete mouthed _"it sucks to be you_" at Claudia, and she stuck her tongue out in reply.

"As I was saying, before I was so _rudely interrupted_..." He paused and glanced at Claudia again. She pulled her tongue back into her mouth and smiled sweetly at him. "An artifact has popped up in Tennessee. Now, we'd normally pass it off as a prank, but, ah..." Here, he trailed off, and flipped through the file.

"Buuuutttt... I pulled up data relating to the weather and the reports were right, it's been totally insane there," Claudia finished for Artie, when it became apparent that he wasn't going to continue anytime soon.

"Hmm? Yes. That. And that is why you, agents, are taking a trip to Atwood, Tennessee."

"Tennessee? Do we have to?" Pete whined. It wasn't that he didn't like Tennessee, he just didn't feel like leaving Kelly again so soon. She'd been starting to ask questions about his frequent "business trips," and he knew she wouldn't believe the truth if he told her.

"_You_ don't have to. _They_, on the other hand..." Artie pointed to Myka and – a little hesitantly, Myka noticed – Helena. "They have to."

And because Pete was Pete, the first words out of his mouth were a complaint. "Why can't I go too?" he wanted to know, seeming to forget the fact that just a minutes before, he was reluctant to leave.

"I have matters to discuss with you," Artie said, and no amount of coaxing from Pete could get their boss to say more.

Myka grabbed the file from the table. "So, I guess we're going now," she said to whoever was listening – most likely, nobody, knowing this bunch.

As Pete continued to try to wheedle an answer from Artie, and Claudia kicked her chair back on two legs, Myka and Helena walked out of the bed and breakfast. As they walked out the door, Myka heard Artie mutter under his breath. "I _hate_ weather artifacts..." Great.

* * *

[ATWOOD, TENNESSEE - 2010]

"What do you mean, the problem's solved?" Myka insisted, glaring up at the sky. The beautiful, blue, _clear_ sky.

"I'm telling you, the other woman already took the object," the officer insisted. "Now, if you don't mind..."

What? "No. No, I do mind. What other woman?" Myka insisted. There _were_ no "other women," which meant that either someone was impersonating a Secret Service agent... or someone knew exactly what occurred here and happened to be collecting artifacts. Myka sincerely hoped for the former, because that would be easier to deal with. She couldn't picture another MacPherson running around, distributing highly dangerous artifacts to the highest bidder...

"The woman with the red hat. She said she was with you two." Now the officer sported a look of confusion. "If it helps, she asked me to give something to anyone inquiring about the soccer ball."

Helena finally spoke. "What did she say?" Myka glanced at Helena, who shrugged. "What? It might be useful."

"All right, let me see..." The officer dug around in his pockets. "It's in here somewhere, I know it." Myka frowned slightly and crossed her arms, watching the man. _Maybe if I stare hard enough, he'll hurry up_, she pondered. "Ah, here we go." Finally. "Hopefully, you two can make more sense of this than I could. Good day." He held a postcard out to Myka.

Myka snatched the postcard and examined the front. It bore no text whatsoever, instead showing solely the picture of a tropical jungle. She flipped it over. "Helena."

The other woman was at her side in less than a moment. "Yes?"

"She left us a message."

"It seems she has," Helena mused, taking the postcard from her partner and reading the brief message. _"It's really amazin' here. I can see twenty-seven stars out already, and it's not yet fully dark. You'd be amazed if you knew the volume of water here when it rains! See you soon."_ She re-read the note twice, three times, frowning slightly with concentration.

"What does that mean?" Myka wanted to know. Judging from the look on Helena's face... either the other woman was just as confused as she, or she knew what it meant.

"I've got no idea whatsoever. I'm sorry," Helena apologized, handing the postcard back. "We should call Claudia and ask her to run a search for us."

"That..." Myka began, "..is a very good idea. Give me the Farnsworth."

"What? I don't – oh, right." Helena walked back to the car and pulled the Farnsworth off of her seat. "How do you work this, again?"

"Let me do it," Myka insisted before snatching the device and flipping it open.

Claudia's face appeared on the screen. "Yo. What's up? You snag the artifact?"

"Not quite. It seems someone else got to it before we did," Helena interjected, tilting the Farnsworth her way so Claudia could see her face.

"Um, that's bad," the girl stated.

"Yes, Claudia, that's bad," Myka said, and inwardly cringed. _I sound like I'm talking to a five year-old. She's twenty, Myka._ "Claudia, can you do something for me?"

Claudia looked over her shoulder – checking for Artie, Myka presumed. "Yeah, sure, why not?"

"Thanks. The other person left us a message. Do you think you can figure it out?"

Claudia blinked, and then shrugged. "Well, I won't know until I try, right?"

"Right," Helena and Myka chorused, then looked at each other. Helena nodded for the other woman to talk.

"It's really amazin' here..." Myka read the message aloud to Claudia. It almost made less sense upon this read-through than it had the first time. The note simply sounded like one anyone would write on a postcard to friends or family.

"All right, Googling as we speak. If you can hang on for a few minutes, I'll probably have something for you."

"Thank you, Claudia." Myka lowered the Farnsworth from her face – sticking her face directly in front of the screen was a habit she knew she had to break – and handed it to Helena. "I'm driving," she told the other woman, who simply nodded and followed her to the car.

[A FEW MINUTES LATER]

"Hey, guys?" Claudia's voice rang out from the Farnsworth on Helena's lap.

"Yes, Claudia?" Helena answered as Myka turned her head. _Let me get this_, she mouthed to Myka, who made a face but turned her attention back to the road. Helena

"After an extensive Google search – I'm very good at the Google, thank you, thank you very much – I managed to figure out your mystery note. The twenty-seven stars thing was what got me thinking that maybe it meant more than just a normal note. And boy, was I right!" Claudia grinned, and bowed a little. "It seems that..." she paused, "your mystery woman..." another pause, "wants you to go..." Yet another pause.

"Claudia, we don't have all day," Myka snapped.

"Ooookay, jeez. You're gonna want to go to Brazil."

Myka slammed on the brakes. "What?" she screeched. "How did you get–"

"If you'd be quiet and let me explain, you'd know!" Claudia snarked. "So, first things first. Twenty-seven stars. That's how many stars are on the Brazilian flag. Add that to the comment about rain, water, and the amazing thing – the rain meant the rainforest and–"

"Amazin'. Amazon. The river with the largest volume of water," Myka realized. Of course, the message made sense now.

"Exactimundo."

"Tell Artie," Myka said, "that we're going to Brazil."

"Can do, milady." With that, Claudia hung up.

After a long moment in which the two women drove in silence, Helena spoke. "So, Brazil..."

"Brazil," Myka agreed.

* * *

[BADLANDS, SOUTH DAKOTA - 2010]

Claudia barreled into Pete's room, hiding something behind her back. She took a flying leap and landed on his bed beside him, somehow managing to avoid kicking him. However, her landing caused the remote control to bounce off of the bed. "Pete!"

"Claudia!" he replied, leaning over the side of the bed to retrieve the remote.

"Pete, you wanna have a little blast from our past?" Claudia grinned.

"Well," he paused the television, "it really depends on what you mean by that." While Pete knew that sometimes Claudia just needed to be a kid again, that knowledge wouldn't stop him from being wary. "If it's anything like the Cookie Monster incident..."

"That? Pfft, oh no, it's nothing bad, dude." She waved her free hand at him dismissively. "It's just a computer game." She pulled her other hand out from behind her back, finally allowing Pete to see what she held. He read the title, blinked, and leaned closer to re-read it.

"_Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?_ Really?"

"What? It's a classic!" she frowned. She looked up at Pete and narrowed her eyes. "You're just afraid I'll be better at it than you."

"I didn't say that!" Pete replied defensively.

"You didn't have to. I could see it written all over your face, dude. You chicken."

"Wha– No! You are _so_ on, missy."

Claudia grinned. "Perfect. Let me go install it real fast, all right? Then we'll finally be able to put all of Artie's useless trivia to good use."

"Sounds good to me. Besides, I gotta see what Artie wants from me."

"All right, bro," Claudia replied, getting up from the bed. "My room in twenty minutes?"

"Your room," Pete confirmed.

"Groovy."

With that, Claudia was gone. Pete shook his head. _That girl_... He couldn't help but smile. However much she made him think of a younger sibling, she really wasn't that bad. And who knows? Perhaps this old game would still be fun.


	4. Search

**Hey hey hey, Mind and Orin are back with this week's chapter of The Lost Century. Mind's the mastermind behind this chapter (oh, wow, that totally sounded so much cooler in my head).**

**We'd like to thank AM for the lovely reviews. And, AM, all we have to say is this: all will be revealed shortly. ;)**

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[SOMEWHERE OVER NORTH AMERICA – 2010]

Helena gazed out the window of the plane. She'd insisted on the window seat, and Myka had obliged. There was nothing she enjoyed more in this current time than to enjoy the scenery – something she hadn't been able to do back in her day. Because of this, one of the modern marvels she was absolutely amazed with in this new world was the capability of flight. She watched, with great intent, the countryside and clouds pass by. This relaxing action had let Helena's mind wander back to the clue. "_She always had enjoyed being a tease," _Helena thought about her old partner with amusement.

[LONDON, ENGLAND - 1898]

_Helena was roused from her slumber when the first rays of sunshine came through her bedroom window. She mumbled incoherently and reached across the bed to find it empty. Sitting up slightly, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked over to where her companion should have been. The blanket was half made on that side, and the pillow straightened. On the pillow, there was a note laying face-down. Picking it up, the British woman flipped it over to read the message with a smirk. "I've got a theory or two you might be interested in. Meet me to-night at seven and we can discuss this. I'll be at the place where the friars heal." She sighed, and a pleased smile played on her lips. Friars heal... This wasn't to be taken literally. It meant "Friar's Heel," more commonly known as Stonehenge. "I'll be there," she said softly to herself._

_Oh, Helena _did_ love the chase... She loved it almost as much as her partner enjoyed being sought. It had become a game to the two of them. This game, however, was beneficial to both. Her partner would test her knowledge and push her to think of things in more than one way. Meanwhile, Helena brought a new perspective to the table, and was willing to both learn and make mistakes with her partner. Those who knew them agreed that this partnership was likely to last for years, if not decades._

[SOMEWHERE OVER CENTRAL AMERICA - 2010]

Myka spent most of her airborne time reading up on Brazil and constantly talking to Claudia (on her cell phone and not the Farnsworth, so as to not draw attention to themselves) in hopes of either finding their mysterious 'woman in the red hat' or help in finding the artifact. After about five straight chapters of reading, Myka set the book down and used her palms to rub her tiring eyes. She glanced at Helena, who was lost in her thoughts, before speaking. "Helena..?" No answer. "Helena?" Myka said a little more loudly. This time, the other Warehouse agent perked up and looked over at the sound of her name being called, her thoughts interrupted.

Helena blinked, and turned her attention to the woman beside her. "Hmm. Yes, Myka?"

Myka felt slightly guilty bringing Helena out of such deep thoughts, but she needed some assistance. "I'm barely finding anything useful, so we need to go over what we know. Maybe we missed something that could help. So, what exactly is the artifact we're looking for?"

"It's quite an oddity, this one. It was made from the first weather balloon and transmitter in 1929, by Robert Bureau. What a crook _he_ was. He used that balloon and device to change the weather to make his predictions correct. " She paused a moment to scoff. "For reasons we do not know, it was somehow formed into the soccer ball we are now hunting. And now..." she continued while holding up the postcard, "we seem to have another little hunter on our hands. And again, we do not know what she is up to." She held a finger up, "My conclusion: we'll know little to nothing about it's, or the woman's, for that matter, whereabouts until we arrive. Perhaps there will be another clue once we reach our destination."

Myka groaned and ran both her hands through her hair. This was going to be a long day.

[RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - 2010]

The two female agents were exiting the plane and in the process of retrieving their luggage when Helena overheard some conversations of the people inside the airport. She turned toward her companion, "Myka. I don't suppose you speak Portuguese do you? Because regretfully, I do not."

Myka froze after hearing that and smacked a hand on her forehead, "Well neither do I. Artie will love to hear this.."

After a humorous escapade with the language barrier (well, not humorous to _Myka_, but Helena certainly seemed amused), the pair had managed to find a Brazilian dictionary. Outside the airport, they asked around the same question to locals: "_Houve algum tempo estranho acontecendo? _(_Has there been any strange weather going on?_)"No one either seemed to know or wanted to tell. Eventually, the agents found a young boy that claimed he knew where some weird weather had been happening, and lead Myka and Helena to the middle of it.

"_Est__á__dio de Maracan_ã. The Maracanã Stadium," Helena observed, after thanking the boy for his help.

"A soccer stadium? _Really_?"

"This is coming from the woman who's walking with the female H.G. Wells," Helena smirked.

"...Good point."

* * *

[BADLANDS, SOUTH DAKOTA - 2010]

"All right!" Claudia exclaimed while pumping her fists in the air. She spun in her computer chair to face Pete, grinning.

Pete, who sat next to her in his own swivel chair, pouted. "I think you cheated, Claudia."

"What? Dude, you can't cheat in _Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego_! You're just mad because I figured out the clue faster than you!" She huffed and crossed her arms.

"Yeah-huh, sure! I bet you used your geeky tech whiz skills or something to hack it!" He retorted and motioned exaggeratedly before crossing his own arms.

Claudia retaliated with the most basic of all come-backs: she stuck her tongue out at Pete, who in turn, did the same. They both held that pose for a good thirty seconds before backing down and returning their attention to the computer screen. "So... who was the henchman?"

Claudia scanned the screen and, with a few clicks of the mouse and keyboard, had gained the answer. "And the lucky goon is... Rob M. Blind! Let's give him a round of applause for being captured by the dynamic duo of Claudia and Pete!"

The pair both went in for high-fives until Pete realized something. "Hey! How come your name is first?"

Claudia smirked. "Because I, unlike you, found the loot, the crook, _and_ got the warrant," she declared. "Gold star for Claudia. And I think I actually have some laying around here somewhere..." She searched her desk, scattering papers with what looked to Pete like mathematical equations and doodles of artifacts.

"Only because you wouldn't let me show off my Google skills!" Pete protested. "Oh, hey, check the–" he began, motioning to the drawers.

"Way ahead of you, bro." Claudia pulled out first one drawer, and then the other, rummaging through the contents. Pete caught sight of what looked suspiciously like the blueprints to the Tesla before Claudia slammed the drawers shut. "Aha!" she cried, triumphantly holding up a gold star sticker. "Oh, and Google's practically cheating. Besides, this game's supposed to give you edumacations." Claudia spun around in her chair a few times, sticking the gold star to her jacket.

"Why would anyone want an educational game?" Pete joked.

"I know, right? Why should a game make you learn anything?" She and Pete attempted to high-five again. This task proved to be a difficult one, due to Claudia's spinning.

"Stop spinning, you're making me dizzy."

"Dude. You sounded like Artie just then." Claudia obliged, however, and pulled her chair back in front of her computer.

Pete jokingly shuddered, before rolling his chair directly beside hers again. "So, next case? I'm so going to beat you this time."

Claudia looked to Pete, and then back to her computer. She grinned. "You're on."

Words briefly appeared on the screen in front of the two agents. "**The game's not over until the lady in red sings, Players. And we're far from the final act.**"

"We'll make you sing, Carmen," Pete replied.

Claudia snorted. "Dude, it's just a game, remember? She can't hear you."

"I'm just getting into the spirit of things."

"Uh-huh, sure."

"Really!"

"Whatever. Let's rock."


	5. Teams

**A/N: It's that time of week again! ;) This week's chapter is brought to you by Orin. The two of us would like to thank all those who've read this so far, as well as a special thank-you to the lovely reviewer, AM, as well as those who have this story on alert. Thank you! **

* * *

[RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – 2010]

Upon entering the stadium, a flash of red immediately grabbed at their attention. Myka followed the source of the red to the head of a darkly-dressed woman standing in the centre of the stadium, soccer ball pinned beneath one stiletto. "Very good work, you two. But you're not quite fast enough this time, I'm afraid." Here, the woman gave the soccer ball a mighty kick; this was an impressive feat, considering her choice of footwear. "I'd love to run into you two again, but I've heard news of a Seoul that needs to be saved from itself. Remember, opposites attract. Ta-ta." She raised her hands from her pockets and opened what looked like an old-fashioned compass. She twisted the compass portion and flipped the entire device over to do the same to something on the bottom, nudging something into place. She promptly disappeared into thin air.

"Helena, that compass... was that the one belonging to Rheticus?" Myka wanted to know. If it was, then MacPherson had sold more artifacts than they'd assumed... and they'd have to go through the inventory again, checking and triple-checking each and every artifact to make sure each was in its rightful place. This was both extremely time-consuming and mind-numbing, and a task that was to be avoided at any cost.

"I remember Claudia telling me the story of how you all saved her brother from that very artifact. I thought that compass was back at the Warehouse?"

"That's what I thought, too. Here, take the Farnsworth and call Clau—DUCK!"

The women ducked as the soccer ball sailed over their heads and slammed into the seating area. Almost immediately, thunder rumbled as dark clouds rushed into the sky above the stadium.

"Well, this is bad."

A bolt of lightning arced down from the clouds overhead, hitting the ground where the mystery woman had stood a moment earlier.

"Did I say bad? I meant _really_ bad. Let's hurry and neutralize it." Another bolt of lightning shot down, directly in front of the women.

"Helena, you grab the soccer ball, I'll grab the goo–" _I've really got to stop using Claudia-speak around Helena, it's probably confusing her,_ "–neutralizer, I mean, and let's hurry!"

"All right." As Helena ran for the soccer ball, Myka raced for the canister of purple neutralizing fluid. She'd left it near the entrance to the stadium. As she ran, she fervently hoped she wouldn't be hit by a lightning bolt. "Myka?" Helena yelled.

"I'm right here," Myka yelled back.

"Stay right there, I'm bringing the ball to you."

"All right." Myka uncapped the neutralizer as Helena stopped beside her, panting. She dropped the ball into the liquid, and the women shielded their eyes from the shower of sparks emitted from the goo. The overcast sky overhead immediately cleared, allowing the sun to shine through. Myka would never get used to the overall strangeness of her job...

"Now we have to call Claudia and ask about the compass," Myka informed Helena, handing her cellular phone to the other woman. "Here, take my phone and see if you can call Artie." She pulled the Farnsworth out of her jacket pocket and called Claudia.

The little screen flared to life to show Claudia staring at something off-screen, before turning her attention to the Farnsworth. "Yo," she greeted with a half-wave.

"Claudia? Are you gonna pause the–" Something moved in the background, and Claudia absentmindedly swatted at it. "Ow."

"Pete?"

"Huh?" The aforementioned person pushed Claudia aside to stare down at the Farnsworth's tiny screen. "Oh. Hi!"

"Put Claudia back on," Myka demanded. This wasn't the time to be messing around.

"Yeah, sure, hang on."

"Aw, man! Really? I could've sworn they were gonna go to Spa–"

The screen shifted to show the the ceiling of Claudia's room. "Claudia, it's for you."

"Pete, if you _touch_ my laptop, I swear I'll kill you." A heavy sigh, and the sound of clicking preceded Claudia regaining control of the communication device and adjusting it so her face could be seen. "Yo... again."

"Claudia, can you check something for us really fast?"

Claudia paused, "...It depends on what that is. See, I'm kinda in the middle of something..."

"Claudia..."

"All right, all right. Hang on. Pete, we'll finish this later." Claudia set the Farnsworth on the desk beside her, allowing Myka and H.G. a view of her computer screen.

Myka's eyes bugged at the sight before her. "_Where in the World is Car_– You two are playing computer games, and that's more important than doing something for us? Really? _Really_?"

"No, no, no. See, we _were_ playing computer games. Now, we're doing work-related things." Myka raised her eyebrows. "Honest!" Claudia insisted.

"If you say so. Look, can you access the Warehouse database from your laptop?"

"Duh." Claudia sat, fingers poised over the keyboard. She looked at Myka expectantly. "So? What am I searching for?"

"Check for Rheticus's compass."

Claudia stared at Myka as if she'd told her to run through the Warehouse, playing with artifacts. "...Myka. Dude. We have it. Remember?"

"Just look," Myka insisted.

"Ooookay, whatever. Looking. But I know we're gonna – uh-oh."

"What?"

"We... kinda don't have it anymore."

[AT THE SAME TIME]

Helena turned Myka's phone over and over again in her hands. The invention of cordless phones was quite useful in this day and age. She flipped it open and began to punch in a number, right as the phone rang. She checked the caller I.D. – a useful invention, that – and turned to the other woman. "Myka, it's–" She was promptly shushed by the other woman. Helena made a face, but answered. "Agent Wells."

Artie's voice greeted her. However, instead of a hello, Helena received this: "Wells? Why - Put Myka on the phone."

"She's busy. Claudia's giving her information about an artifact."

"I – she – I don't – I don't care what she's doing! I'm her boss! Put Myka on the phone," Artie snapped.

Helena shrugged and held the phone towards her partner. "Myka, it's Artie."

"Tell him I'm–"

"I did."

A sigh. "All right. Claudia, I have to go. Artie called," Myka told the girl on the other end of the Farnsworth.

"Hey, no, it's totally cool. I'll try again, see if it was just a glitch in the system." Claudia hung up.

Myka grabbed the phone from Helena. "Yes, Artie?"

"You two need to get back here. Now."

* * *

[BADLANDS, SOUTH DAKOTA - 2010]

"An artifact has popped up on the radar. From the details given, I have reason to assume that it is a bifurcated yin-yang artifact. Now, this has showed up in South Korea, in–"

"It showed up in Seoul," Myka realized.

"How did you – how did you know?" Artie spluttered.

"Our mystery guest told us," Helena remarked.

"Ah, yes, this so-called woman in the red hat." Artie lowered his voice. "Tell me this." The agents leaned in, to be able to hear him better. "Why didn't you stop her?" he growled.

"Artie, she–"

"Compass–"

"She disappeared–"

"Children, children, one at a _time_. Tell me _exactly _what happened."

Myka glanced at the assembled group. Nobody spoke up. "Artie, she has Rheticus's compass," she finally said.

A long pause. "Are you sure? Because that's in the Warehouse–"

"It's not," Claudia piped up. "I checked."

"... All right. All right. I'm sending all four of you to Seoul, then."

"I get to go out in the field?" Claudia gasped excitedly. "Dude, this is so sick, like you don't even know. I won't fail you."

"Pete, Myka, you recover the compass and try to catch this woman. Claudia... H.G. Wells... you two are to "snag" the artifact. I expect it to be a relatively easy assignment."

"Right-o." Claudia saluted Artie. "Snag, bag, tag. Easy-peasy. We can do this."

"Your plane leaves in half an hour. Pack lightly."

"Aw, man! Artie! That's not enough time!" Pete complained. "I thought we talked about this last month! You gotta give us more than an hour's warning."

"Pete, the next plane wouldn't leave for another twelve hours. By then, the woman _stealing _artifacts could be gone! Do you want another MacPherson running amok?"

"Um... no."

"Then hurry up and make sure you're on that plane."

"Right. Gotcha. Hurrying."

* * *

[SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – 2010]

The four arrived at a small hotel, each carrying a small bag of clothing and other necessities. "Well," Myka finally said, once the four received their room keys. "I guess this is where we split ways."

"I guess so," Helena agreed.

"Pete and I are going to start the search in the morning, after a little shut-eye. I suggest you two do the same." And with that, Myka followed Pete down the hall to their room.

"So... H.G.," Claudia said. "Looks like we're a team."

"It would appear so."

"Awesome." She led the way to their room as well. "Dibs on the bed by the window!"

[MINUTES LATER]

"Myka... Myka, can we get a snack? I'm hungry." Pete stared wistfully out the window at a small restaurant across the street from their hotel.

Myka playfully punched him on the shoulder. "Pete, you're always hungry."

"Ow! I am not!"

"Oh come on, I didn't hit you that hard."

"I'd hate to have you hit me hard, then," Pete complained good-naturedly, rubbing his arm. "Man, that's gonna leave a mark."

Myka threw her head back and laughed.

[AT THE SAME TIME]

Claudia opened her laptop and booted it up. "H.G., we should totally play a computer game."

Helena raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because it's fun. And really educational. I swear. Check it out."

Helena raised her eyebrows. "_Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?_"

"Don't judge me," Claudia complained.

Helena laughed softly. "I wasn't planning on it, Claudia."

Claudia stared at the other woman for a moment. "It's fun."

"I bet it is."

An awkward silence ensued, until Claudia announced, "Let's play."

"If you insist..."

"I do. I do insist," Claudia replied.

"Then let's do this."

"Awesome!" the younger girl cheered, pumping her fists in the air. She failed to notice the pointer on her screen move to the desktop shortcut of the game and click on it, all by itself.


	6. Chase

**A/N: Hey there hey. 3 Mind here bringing you the weekly installment of The Lost Century! I'd like to thank our loyal reviewer AM for following the story and the new peeps who put this story on alert! And to answer your question, AM**, **without revealing too much.. it's a little of both. ;D But it will all make sense in the end don't you worry. 8D**  
**(Neither Orin nor I own anything related to Warehouse 13 and do not claim as such.)**

* * *

[SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – 2010]

Helena had long since fallen asleep at the desk in the hotel room after a late night computer playing session with Claudia. Though the young tech whiz was still up and alive, granted it was aided with about three large cups of coffee. She just had to beat this game by any means necessary, even if that meant pulling an all-nighter. " '_All right, so they changed their currency to pesos... and this next theft is supposed to be a World Heritage Site_'... man!" she ran a hand through her already disheveled color streaked hair and grumbled, "Carmen. If it's your job in life to annoy and stump me you should be given a promotion."

"It's what I do, Player," came a familiar disembodiment voice. Surprised, Claudia looked around the room. She glanced down at Helena, who was still asleep, and then back at the computer. "Okay.. officially weirded out here.." The tech girl voice wavered while staring at the screen wide-eyed, "there's a completely rational explanation for why my computer is talking is talking to me-" Claudia was then cut off by the voice again. "_Tut, tut Player. It's more that meets the eye because one is two that is to be one. Don't be afraid of change._" And with that the computer screen went flashed back what Claudia had left off on. "Uhhhmmm. I think it's time for bed, you think so Claudia? I sure do, " she quietly mumbled to herself. As shut down the game and her computer and rubbed her tired eyes she gently tried to shake Helena awake. "H.G.? ...H.G.? Come on sleepy head. That desk might be more comfortable then those beds but it's killer on your back." The British agent awoke with a start, nearly taking out Claudia, "Wha-? Who.. Claudia..?" her voice questioned thick with sleep, "Ah we were playing that game weren't we? I dozed off. I apologize."

"Ah don't sweat it H.G., I didn't stay up too long anyway."

Helena glanced at a digital clock in the room. "..Claudia it's three o'clock AM."

"Woah then what are we still doing up?" Came her reply when she stood up only to lay down in the bed. "Night H.G., don't let the bed bugs bite." Helena followed suit and stretched out on her bed. "Good night Claudia. And I do hope those 'bed bugs' don't bite. They leave awful rashes behind and are so hard to treat." If Claudia wanted to question that she didn't, within minutes both women were asleep.

* * *

[HOURS LATER]

The alarm Claudia had set on her phone beeped irritably to wake her up. At that time, she cursed whoever invented that thing and flipped it off. Maybe trying to stay up all night with caffeine wasn't such a good idea. Stretching out her body she looked over to the other bed only to learn that Helena was already gone and the bed made. Her confusion only lasted for a second when in walked the missing British woman. "Ah Claudia you're up! I didn't think you'd be up for a few more hours considering the late night you had. I hope I didn't wake you. " When Claudia shook her head, she continued, "good then. I manged to procure some breakfast from a small American shop around the hotel." Smiling, Helena held up a small basket filled with assorted doughnuts, danishes, and other pastries.

"Wicked sweet! I'm starved! And these look delish!" Claudia happily said while reaching for a baked good.

[MINUTES LATER]

"So H.G. ..." Claudia started in-between bites while sitting on one of the beds cross-legged, "why were you up so early?" Helena looked a little distracted when asked, or maybe Claudia just imagined it, and set down the danish she was eating to speak, "after getting into the bed last night I found myself in the predicament of not being able to go back to sleep." She held up a hand as Claudia was going to ask, "do not fret because it was none of your fault. I had this, rather odd feeling. A sense of familiarity or feeling the presence of someone I knew that kept me up. But I don't think it was more then the fleeting memory of a fading dream. " Claudia could swear Helena looked almost sad before she started up again, "so after tossing and turning for a few hours I decided to take an early morning walk. And lucky for us, found this delectable breakfast. " The young tech whiz quickly finished her current dessert by nearly shoving the rest in her mouth and licking excess icing off her finger. "Speaking of weird dreams. I had this one where I think Carmen Sandiego was actually speaking to me. Through my game no less." The British agent titled her head slight, interested. "What was the dream about?" The young agent scrunched up her forehead in concentration to try and recall the occurance, "she.. she said a clue.. about something.. one is two that is one and something about change. I'm pretty sure it was a dream or at least a hallucination. It was late and I did have three coffees.. which reminds me of something I really need to do." Claudia sprang off the bed and headed toward the restroom. Helena chuckled and went about finishing her danish.

When Claudia returned, Helena set her intent gaze on her. "I am intrigued by your dream. Do you remember anything else about it, darling?"

"Uhmmm. Not really. Only it sounded like Carmen and she responded to something I said in real life. Oh and that it came from my computer just like the game would."

"I see. Well we should do well to remember this information. I've heard of instances that sometimes dreams can help in later situations or even see into the future."

Claudia didn't really believe that but she would do her best to remember it anyway. By chance, she looked at the digital clock in the room. "Aw snap H. G.! We need to get going!" Helena looked at the clock but didn't have the shocked reaction Claudia did, "I guess you're right, let us be off to find this mysterious artifact."

* * *

[AN HOUR OR SO LATER]

Trudging along the sidewalk, Helena and Claudia conversed about the artifact and what they knew.

"So we have no idea what the effects are or even what actual artifact it is?"

"Precisely. But that's never stopped me before."

Claudia childishly crossed her arms and sighed, so this was the un-fun part of being an agent. Though she did have to admit, hunting down an unknown artifact with the one and only H. G. Wells did have it's major perks. Aw who was she kidding. She _loved_ every minute of this. Claudia, while lost in her thoughts, didn't notice when Helena stopped and stared straight ahead but she did snap out of she ran smack into her. "Owww.. what's the deal yo-" Her words died off when she saw what Helena did. Sitting in plain, broad daylight was the Woman in the Red Hat nonchalantly sipping a drink. Somehow sensing their presence, she set down her cup she looked up at the pair of agents with her one visible eye, "I had wondered when you were going to show up. Oh you brought the tech girl this time. Spicing things up I see? Oh but I'm getting off-track. This is what you came all the way here for? " The Woman in the Red Hat held something up in the light. It was a small, simple yin and yang carved stone, "but there wouldn't be any fun in just giving it to you so. You'll have to catch me first." With a wink and smirk, the Woman quickly dashed down a random direction away from the agents. Shaking off the initial shock of the blatantly random encounter, Helena quickly ran after her. Claudia followed, though she was still bristling at that 'tech girl' comment.

* * *

Both of the agents stayed hot on the trail of the Woman in the Red Hat and it was hard to miss that distinct hat coupled with the fact there were few people out and about. They both knew they couldn't keep this up forever, Claudia was amazed how this woman could run so fast and stay ahead in those stilettos. As it seemed the chase was nearing the end Helena turned to Claudia while doing her best to not trip while doing so, "Claudia! I need you to stay back and call Myka for backup!"

"But-" Claudia began to protest.

"Now!"

The young agent did as she was told and slowly came to a halt, out of the corner of her eye she could see the Woman and Helena turn down a sharp alley way. Quickly she whipped out her Farnsworth's Farnsworth and tried to contact the other agent. "Myka? Myka! Come on pick up!" Panic was in her voice and she paced. Relief at Myka picking up was brief when Claudia had to explain what the current sitatuion was, "Myka! We need you and Pete as backup. That cracked Lady in the Red Hat is here and she had the artifact!" She needed to make it short and to the point if she was going to help- "Frak! She doesn't have a weapon!" She quickly turned heels and ran down the direction she saw Helena and the Woman run down. She shoved her still on Farnsworth into her pocket and pulled out a Tesla. Slowing her pace as she heard a familiar voice, yet couldn't make out the words, she paused against the wall. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself she stepped off the wall and pointed the Tesla in front of her. The Woman in the Red Hat was nowhere in site but Helena stood there as still as a statue. Claudia took a few small steps toward her, "H. G. ..?" she lowered her weapon and placed a hand on the British agent's shoulder. She didn't move. The young agent walked around to face the frozen Helena. "H. G. !" Claudia shook her shoulders with a little more force. "Oh no no no NO." The panic was coming back. Helena G. Wells was frozen in time and the Woman in the Red Hat got away. Again.


	7. Stone

**A/N: It's that time of week again. ;) Orin brings you this chapter with love. He'd love to say more but he's literally falling asleep at the keyboard. Anyway, enjoy! Mind and Orin love you all, and thanks for reading!  
**

**

* * *

**[SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – 2010]

Ahh, morning. The sun was shining, the birds chirping... and the partner was hungry. Myka watched Pete roam the room, opening and closing drawers. "Pete, we have to get going. We'll grab something on the way."

"But I'm hungry _now_," Pete complained, putting on his best puppy eyes. Almost as if he could sense her judgment, he hastily added, "What? I haven't eaten all night!"

"_Pete_..."

The warning tone of her voice prompted Pete to shut up about his hunger. "All right, all right. So what are we looking for again?" he wanted to know. "All I know is that it's some lady."

"Look for a lady wearing a red hat." This was the most basic description she could give Pete. Actually, it was the most descriptive she could get. She hadn't yet gotten a good look at the woman's face, and the rest of her clothing weren't out of the ordinary. If they were going to find this woman, they had to pray that she still wore the hat.

Pete stared at Myka. Hopefully, the task would be as simple as it sounded. But then again, with their job... it rarely was. "So... look for red," he clarified. You know. Just to be absolutely sure they were on the same page.

"Yes, Pete. Look for red." She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Sometimes Pete was just... well, _Pete_. There was no accurate way to describe him well.

"Can do!" he chirped. "Let's go do some sightseeing!"

[TWO HOURS LATER]

"Man, how hard can it be to find some lady wearing a red hat?" Pete complained. Myka didn't voice her thoughts, but she had to admit that she expected that this would be so difficult. Red usually tended to stand out against other colors. Why, then, was it so hard to find their target? She could only hope that Claudia and Helena were having better luck.

Pete's arm shot out to block her way as he excitedly pointed somewhere to her left. "Oh! Oh! Myka, look! That woman's – oh, never mind." He sheepishly lowered his arm. "Okay, I could have _sworn_ her hat was red."

Myka turned her head to look at the woman in question. "Pete..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Learn my colors."

Myka just shook her head. "Oh, Pete." He grinned at her in return.

"I might be tempted to learn my colors if we got different colors of frosting for co–" The sound of buzzing interrupted.

"Hold that thought, Pete. Someone's calling." Myka dug the Farnsworth out of her pocket. "Hello?"

"Myka? Myka! We need you and Pete as backup. That cracked lady in the red hat is here and she had the artifact!"

Myka swore. "Are you–"

"Yes! Yes, I'm sure! H.G.'s chasing her right– oh _frak_, she doesn't have a weapon! Gotta go! Come as fast as you can. We gotta catch this lady. Claudia, out."

Myka stared at the blank screen on the Farnsworth. "Pete?"

"I heard. Let's go."

[MOMENTS LATER]

"Claudia? Claudia, where are you?"

"Pete? Myka? Is that you?" a familiar voice panicked.

Pete and Myka rounded the corner and found themselves face-to-face with a visibly distraught Claudia and a strangely unmoving H.G. Wells. The older woman had something clasped in her hands as she stood, staring blankly ahead of her. What Claudia told the agents sent a chill down Myka's back: "Guys, the other woman has artifacts with her."

"What happened to H.G.?" Pete wanted to know, examining Helena. "It's like she's just... stuck in time or something."

"I don't know! I ran over with my Tesla after calling you guys and I just found her like this!" She paused. "And don't tell Artie I built one? Please? I like my days being relatively punishment-free." She'd begun behaving herself recently, resulting in less chores for herself. Needless to say, she was pleased with the less intense workload, and Artie was happy that he didn't have to keep saving her from the dangerous situations she seemed to find herself in.

"Claudia, calm down," Myka said as soothingly as she could. "Did you see how this happened?"

"No! Like I said, I came running with the Tesla and she was already... like... that." Claudia gestured awkwardly at Helena, turning her head so as to avoid the frozen woman's gaze. She wanted to avoid looking at her in general as well. She shouldn't have let the older woman go after the artifact thief alone. She should've stayed with there with Helena. They were a _team_.

"Was the woman there?"

Claudia thought back to her arrival. "No, she was gone by the time I got here." She glared up and down the alley, as if expecting the woman to just walk out into the open and offer herself to the agents.

"And the artifact?" Pete prompted.

"It's as much here as Wally is, and you know how hard he is to find. I'm so sorry, guys."

"Don't you mean Wald–" Pete began, before Myka punched him. "Ow!"

"It's not your fault, Claudia," Myka told the girl, shooting Pete a warning look. _Not now_.

"I should have been faster!" she argued. "I could've prevented–"

An unexpected voice interrupted them. "Where did she go?" Helena asked, blinking in bewilderment and looking around as if her target had vanished into thin air.

"H.G.!" Claudia cried, barely stopping herself from tackling the woman and hugging her. Just hearing her voice was a cause for relief. She lived! The woman hadn't killed her, and she wasn't frozen forever...

"Pete? Myka? When did you two arrive?" H.G. wanted to know, frowning at the two agents. "As a matter of fact, when did you arrive, Claudia? I thought I told you to stay back."

"Helena," Myka began, "she stopped your clock." She hoped she wouldn't have to go into more detail about that. How would she explain it when she didn't even know how it happened? At least she'd begun to stop asking how things like this were possible. As Pete said, with this job... there was no such thing as _no such thing_.

Helena frowned. "She stopped my..." And her facial expression changed. "Oh. _Oh_." She pressed her lips tightly together. "She did?"

"Yeah."

"How long was I...?"

"About ten minutes." Myka raised her eyebrows. "How did you know what I meant?"

"That's a surprisingly short amount of time. In the past, the artifact in question had been used for much longer periods of time. Of course, the longer you put someone on hold, the more dangerous it is for the victim. As for how I knew... my partner and I retrieved the artifact back when we worked at Warehouse 12."

"What was it?" Claudia wanted to know.

"A stopwatch. I caught a glimpse of it in the woman's hand. Funny, though, I could have sworn I saw it back at Warehouse 13 not too long ago..."

"What's that in _your_ hand?"

"Hm? Oh..." Helena unclasped her hands and held the object up for all to see. "A small white stone." Indeed, what she held was an oddly-shaped white stone that fit neatly into the palm of her hand.

"Strange. Did she leave it for you?"

"She handed it to me and said 'I'll see you next time.' That's all I remember until I... reawakened, and saw you three."

"She must want us to do something," Myka mused. "But what?"

Claudia gazed around at the group with a grim look on her face. "We have to find her before she starts messing with civilians. It's bad enough that she's targeting us, but when innocents are at risk..."

"Myka and I will try to find her," Pete decided. "That's what we were told to do, anyway. You two just stay here and... try to figure out that rock thing."

"Gotcha."

* * *

[AT THE OTHER END OF THE ALLEY]

The woman turned a small black stone over and over again in one gloved hand as she watched the Warehouse agents. "Now, let's see how long it takes for them to figure it out." She smirked and slipped the stone – it looked just like the black half of a yin-yang symbol – into her pocket. Then she turned and fled.


	8. Feelings

**HEY THERE HEY. 8D Mind this week bringing you this week's installment of TLC! n_n Also, internet cookies and gold stars to anyone who know what the Yin-Yang artifact is from~ (Hint: We didn't we make it up. 8D)**

**(Orin and I do not own Warehouse 13 nor do we claim as such.)  
**

* * *

[SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – 2010]

Helena was a little unsteady on her feet after her hit-and-run in with the Woman in the Red Hat and the watch artifact. She would never admit it out loud, but completely at the mercy of some unknown force that she couldn't control and couldn't move brought back the nightmare memories of being bronzed that were best left to be buried away in her mind. Still, she walked proudly upright with a confident stride while clutching the white, oddly-cut stone in her hand. She, nor her young tech partner Claudia, noticed how the stone started to pulse a dull orange light.

Claudia, on the other hand, walked sullenly and hunched over next to Helena. Her face was guilt-ridden due to how the meeting with the Woman in the Red Hat went. _'Maybe if she had stayed with H. G. or actually did what an agent was suppose to do, which that meant not letting their partner face down an insane criminal without a weap-' _"Claudia." Helena said suddenly. She turned toward the young tech whiz and placed a hand on her shoulder, "do not blame yourself for what happened." Claudia looked at the British woman with wide, sad eyes before replying, her voice was shaky, "but H. G. something could of happened to you or worse-!" she shook her head, ridding herself of that awful thought, "And it would of been my fault! I didn't check to see if you were armed or-" "Claudia." Helena stated again to get the young agent to stop, "you did as I asked you to. If anything happened, it would of been on my own head. Not yours. Mine. A wise person once said _'You can't change the past. No matter how hard you try.' _But that's beside the point. My point is, darling, you did exactly what you should of done. Followed orders. Now chin up and stiffen that upper lip, we have that Woman to find.. Agent Donovan." The British agent gave her young partner a gentle squeeze on the shoulder before heading back down the path. Claudia was listening intently and slowly smiled. Now with only resolve in her eyes, she quickly caught up with Helena's brisk pace. It slowly dawned on her that Helena called her _Agent_. As in, _calling her a real working member of the Warehouse and not just the hacker or apprentice_. _'Agent Donovan... it has a nice ring to it.'

* * *

_

[HOURS LATER]

"This. Is. Endless." Claudia groaned, practically dragging her poor, tired body down the path. The two agents had no luck in finding any information about the Woman in the Red Hat and the language barrier didn't help the cause either. "Why don't we take a short break?" Helena suggested while motioning to a park bench up ahead. "Ohhh no really? I thought we could walk around for another godforsaken hour. Why don't we?" the young agent snapped rudely in reply. The British agent was shocked and rendered speechless at the sharp comeback. Quickly Claudia sputtered out before she could say anything, "Oh man, sorry H. G. I have no idea where that came from.. that was.. just. Oh man sorry." Her face flushed, it nearly rivaled her hair color, she brushed past her partner and plopped down heavily on the bench. "It feels good to take a load off. My dogs were barking."

"Dogs barking? I don't hear any."

"It's an expression, H. G. Get with the program. Geez. " As soon as the words came out, the tech girl's hands quickly flew up to her mouth. "H. G. I'm so sorry I didn'-"

"Yes. 'You have no idea where that came from' and you're sorry. I know." Helena snapped back, an odd feeling bubbled in her chest. Guilt? No. It couldn't be, why would she feel guilty over something like that little spat?

Both agents left it at that and sat in awkward silence. Claudia was first to break it, "so uh, H. G. I don't think you told me.. or us, you know, Myka and Pete, about that artifact that crackpot Woman used on you. You said you and your old partner snagged it?" "Hemmm yes. It was one of the more pleasant retrieving I had partaken in." Helena's eyes clouded over and stared off, getting lost in past. Quickly snapped back she turned to her young partner, "I apologize for that. I seem to be spacing off more often then usual. But to get back to your questions, yes. My partner and I were the ones that got the Stopwatch that inspired the fable The Tortoise and the Hare." Claudia was very interested in this, but more importantly, it was a chance to learn about Helena's very shrouded past. A chance she didn't want to pass up. She pulled her knees up to her chest and asked, "so that's how the Tortoise won? By cheating?"

"Yes. Though the actual story has been lost over the many, many years. It still had the same basic plot. But I think they took the 'cheating' section out. Not a very good moral to be teaching to children. " At the mention of 'children', Helena gently grasped the locket around her neck. There was that strange guilt-feeling again, only it was more intensified.

The young agent stayed quiet for a few moments before piping back up, "Ohhh H. G. what was your partner like? Errr unless I'm stepping over some boundaries or something, in which case you have all rights to say 'Claudia. Shut up.' " she hastily added. Helena chuckled at her forthrightness and replied, "no.. no it's fine, darling, it would be nice to.. talk about her. What would you like to hear about?"

The tech girl over-dramatically thought about what she wanted to ask, which was exaggerated expressions and gestures, "I want.. to know... about... your first artifact snagging with her." She finally said. "That's a rather uninteresting tale but I will use all my abilities as a writer to make it as interesting as possible." Helena began..

* * *

_[TIRANA, 1890]_

_It was a simple retrieving of an artifact for the first-time partners. The hardest part was over, the long travel by boat, carriage, and whatever else transportation they came by. They were on their way to Greece to get the Burial Shroud partially woven by Penelope of the __Odyssey __story. The artifact would never be finished if a person used it to make a hard choice and said person would remain indecisive. Only if the choice was truly made would the artifact release it's hold. Helena believed that it could of even come from Warehouse 1 itself, but she was not sure nor was she told. So that question would be unanswered. She looked over at her new partner. From what she learned, her partner was from the States and was renowned for her skills. 'What skills' she thought 'I do not know.' Actually, Helena didn't know much about her partner. She turned her attention outside one of the small windows of the buggy and watched the scenery slowly go back._

_It hours later when they finally reached the area the artifact was. An 'abnormal hiccup' in the system for some reason could not pinpoint an exactly location, but at least their were two of them. She glanced at her partner, "We should split up. Easier to locate and cover more ground." Her partner merely nodded and went off in the opposite direction. Following suit, only in the other way, the British agent started to root around. _

_It wasn't too long before Helena managed to pull out a small piece of cloth from inside an old and fallen over olive tree. To confirm, she placed it in the neutralizing substance and sure enough, the cloth reacted to it. Now her only task was to find the other woman and go on the long trip back home. Before she could even began the search, there was a noise that sounded like a large explosion followed by a woman screaming in pain. Helena as quickly as she could move, ran in the direction of where she heard the scream.

* * *

_

[SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – 2010]

"I think it's time we get back to looking." Helena said abruptly. She left out the explosion and scream from the retelling of the story to Claudia. That mission took a very wrong turn and her partner paid for it. Shaking it off, she stood up and started walking down the path, "come now darling. We have a few more hours of daylight and we shan't waste them." Claudia bit back a sharp retort and followed. And neither of them noticed the white stone pulsating a much brighter orange glow.


	9. Red

**A/N: Thank you all for reading this fic, and here's the next installment of The Lost Century, brought to you this week by Orin.**

* * *

[SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - 2010]

Pete and Myka walked the streets of Seoul, hand-in-hand. They'd both decided that acting the part of a young couple was preferable to running about, flashing badges. They'd likely get more answers by posing as curious tourists. "Where in the world could she have gone? I mean, really, it shouldn't be this hard to find a lady wearing a red hat. Red stands out! It's not like it's invisible or anything! Although, I really wouldn't be surprised... but still! It's red, Myka! Red!" Pete ranted, waving his free hand around for emphasis.

He'd been going on about this for the past hour, and Myka couldn't take any more of this. There was only so much complaining about a single subject before one started to repeat oneself... and Pete had crossed that line about forty minutes prior. "Pete?"

Her partner paused. "Yeah, Myka?"

"Shut up. Please?" Myka begged. Enough was enough. She'd rather he tell her all about the Iron Shadow's latest adventure, or his favorite dish of Leena's, or... well, anything else, really.

"Okay." He never agreed this quickly. Why did he shut up? Myka narrowed her eyes and stared at her partner suspiciously. "What?"

"I'm trying to decide where the real Pete is," she said thoughtfully, pulling her hand out of his and circling him a few times, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Hahaha, funny." She punched him in the shoulder. "Ow!"

"All right, it really is you," she teased.

"Oww! Jeez! Warn me next time," Pete said with a playful scowl, rubbing his arm.

"Oh, come on, it didn't hurt that much."

"Says _you_."

"We don't have time for this. We have to find that woman." They rejoined hands and continued their act, keeping an eye out for a glimpse of the red hat they knew would be somewhere nearby as the owner watched and waited. _I hope this isn't a trap_, Myka thought. _Please let it be a normal day._ She glanced at Pete out of the corner of her eye. _Normal for us, I mean,_ she hastily corrected. _Please..._

* * *

[THAT NIGHT]

"Um, H.G.? Can I ask you something?" Claudia asked hesitantly, standing in front of Helena with her hands behind her back.

Helena lowered the magazine she had been flipping through. "Go ahead." _What's she holding?_ she wondered.

Claudia frowned at Helena. "You sure you can stay awake long enough, old lady? … Oh my god, I really don't know what's getting into me."

Helena sighed. This was becoming a much more frequent occurrence as time passed, causing her to doubt the accidental nature of Claudia's sudden rudeness. "It's quite all right."

The younger girl grinned and brought her hands in front of her, revealing two boxes of hair dye. "Anyway, what color do you think I should use next? I'm kinda leaning more towards red because I think I used blue a few weeks ago, but I dunno... What do you think?"

Red. The red hat meant more than her favorite color. It suited the other woman, in an odd way. At first it had seemed to clash with everything around her, a stark contrast to the more neutral colors she herself preferred. But as time passed, the red blended in with the browns and blacks of the world around them to serve as a complement, much as the two women complemented each other. Helena recalled the day they met...

_H.G. Wells walked into Warehouse 12 one day and found herself face-to-face with both her mentor Nikola Tesla and a strange woman in a red jacket. "Helena, meet your new partner. She's been brought here from the United States because, to be quite frank, it's been said that she's the best at what she does." He introduced the two of them and excused himself from the room._

"_The best," Helena mused, looking her new partner up and down. There didn't seem to be anything spectacular about her, other than her odd choice of color, and the fact that she wore pants. She raised her eyebrows and glanced up at the woman to comment._

"_They're much more comfortable when I'm required to chase someone," she replied coolly. "You're one to talk, really. Don't think I don't notice your own attire." Indeed, she was eying Helena's own pants, mouth twitching upwards into an amused smile._

_Helena smirked. This woman was much different than the previous agents she'd had the pleasure – and, at times, displeasure – of working with. She could become used to this woman. It wasn't often that she met agents who weren't visibly uncomfortable with who she was and how she presented herself to the world._

_The color red wasn't only her partner's favorite color. It suited her. The red only served to emphasize her levels of energy. Her partner was sure to be working hard to solve their cases, no matter how long they'd been working or how dull the case was. She'd work long into the night finishing incident reports and "tagging" the artifacts they or the other agents retrieved._

_The red matched the woman's boldness. She'd never been afraid to come right out and do what needed to be done, no matter the cost. That, of course, punished her early in their partnership during the Tirana incident..._

She couldn't help it. The guilt was now overwhelming. Had she, the senior partner, led the two of them straight into danger? She should have known better. She should have gotten to know her partner better, so she could have prevented the accident that occurred. _Stop it! It wasn't your fault!_ Helena scolded herself. _You couldn't have known she would take that course of action!_ Yet even now, over a century later, she felt responsible. "Wait... I thought I worked past this during my time as a lovely bronze statue," she muttered. _Apparently not... _ She lifted her head. "Claudia, we should – Claudia?" The redhead was nowhere to be seen.

"She was just here..." Helena muttered, scanning the room, which looked oddly empty. While it was a hotel room, it didn't seem quite this empty earlier... "Wait a minute... where are her possessions?" And at that moment, the Farnsworth rang.

"You two had better be close to snagging the–" Artie stared at Helena, and adjusted his glasses. "Get Claudia. I don't want to have to repeat myself." Was it just her or did he look grumpier than usual? Was his crossness really a direct result of her rejoining the Warehouse? Another wave of guilt hit Helena. _What's wrong with me today_?

"Artie, there's a bit of a problem–"

He sighed heavily, clearly displeased. "_What_ is it?"

She hesitated. She didn't really want to be the one to say this to Artie, but she was the only one that knew... and the sooner he knew, the sooner he could get people looking for her. "Artie, Claudia's gone."


	10. Gone

**Deepest apologizes for the last update. It was all Mind's fault. ;-; Well at any rate, Orin and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and eat a lot of turkey~ n_n**

**(Orin and I do not own anything or claim as such.)**

* * *

[SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - 2010]

"What do you mean 'gone'? What did you do, Wells?" Artie harshly questioned Helena, "I swear if something happened to her I'll have you re-bronzed so fast-" "Artie!" Helena cut his rant off, the intense stab of guilt throbbed again, "I don't know what's going on here or what's going with her. " '_Or me for that matter._ ' "She's been acting weird since... oh God." The British agent dropped the Farnsworth on her bed and started digging through her clothes from the previous day's outing.

"Where is it. It needs to be here... bloody hell!"

"Wells...! Wells! You better tell me what is going on!"

Helena threw the vest that now was lacking in half of the artifact on the ground. Striding back over to the bed, she picked up the Farnsworth, "Claudia's left with the half of the artifact!" "How do you know it's her?" he paused and glared back at her, "and why do you only have half the artifact?"

"It's a long story-"

"Then make it short."

The British agent ran a hand through her dark hair and quickly related the past events from the chase with the Lady in the Red Hat to her actually handing over half the artifact to both Helena and Claudia acting very strange afterward becoming more and more unknowingly frantic with the briefing. Though she did leave out about Claudia's strange dream with her computer, he wouldn't of thought it useful. Artie stayed solemnly quiet throughout the recounting and set a stony glare on the British woman. When it was finished the older agent stayed quiet for a few more minutes before speaking, his voice was eerily calm and collected, "You should of told me the moment you were released from the Watch's effect." Ironically, Artie recalled having a conversation similar to this with his agents in regards to hunting down H. G. Wells. Pity it didn't work, "whatever had happened could of been prevented if I had known. I think I know what artifact this is. I need to check and while I do.. brief the agents. And I want a report on any changes. Am I clear, Wells?" "Crystal, " Helena bitterly answered. Artie hung up without another word and the British agent for a second time dropped the Farnsworth and made a frustrated cry. She brought both her hands up to massage her temples to try and soothe that terrible guilt feeling still eating away inside her. She eventually picked up the Farnsworth again to call the other agents.

* * *

[THE SAME TIME]

Myka was having the worst day she had in awhile. There had been neither hide nor hair nor hat of their Lady in the Red Hat, the partners have been at it for hours, people became more and more hostile as the day dragged on, and to top it all off. Pete was hungry. A hungry Pete is not a happy Pete. And more annoying. They long since abandoned holding hands but still walked close together enough to be considered a couple. "_Pleeeeease_ Myka?" Pete whined while pushing up against Myka's shoulder, "I promise I won't take long! I can practically inhale my meal!" His female counterpart pushed back against his should and glared at him, "Pete. We need to keep searching. If we miss even one clue about this Woman's whereabouts because you're 'hungry' I swear there won't be anything left for Artie to yell at when I'm through with you." Myka angrily told him. Her partner was surprised in the very least, evident when his mouth open and closed a few times without saying a word. Myka's angry face slowly shifted to one of defeat and worn out, "Pete. I'm sorry. It's just this Woman is dangerous. And maybe even more then MacPherson. And we have no idea who she is, how to catch her, or even how she knows about the artifacts-"

Myka never did get to finish because a person ran smack dab into her. Both of them were knocked off balance and tumbled to the ground. The other person quickly stood up while Pete helped Myka up. "I'm so sorry Miss. My fault." The other person, now identified as a woman due to her voice, apologized as quickly as she walked down the sidewalk and around the corner.

"Um Myka.."

"Yes Pete?"

"There's something.. off about that woman.."

"Was it a vibe?"

"Yes. And it was familiar-! Myka! That's the Red Lady!"

"What? Well come on Pete! We need to get her before she can escape again!" The pair of agents quickly ran toward the direction of the Lady in Red and when turning the corner they say her calmly standing at the other end. Almost like she was waiting for them. She was dressed in a traditional Korean Chogori and Ch'ima and most of her face was, oddly enough, covered in a Ssukae Ch'ima. All of her outfit was, as she was now known as 'her color', in red. And even more strange was the fact her infamous red hat was not there. She gave the agents a small wave, "You two are very quick. That's a surprise. I suppose I could give you two a break but where would be the fun in that?" She turned and fled down the street and just as the agents were about to follow her Pete's Farnsworth rang. Helena's face appeared on the fish lens screen, "Pete! Myka! I-"

"Pete see what Helena needs to tell. I'll get the Lady!" Myka left no room for questions and followed behind the Lady in Red.

"H.G. this needs to be important.."

"It is..." Helena as quick as she could retold Pete the past hour's events and what Artie said.

"She's gone? Like gone-gone?"

"I don't think you can get anymore gone then gone.. but unless you want a repeat of the previous chase I strongly suggest you go help Myka."

* * *

Myka did a very nice job of keeping up with the Lady in the Red Hat but always staying at least one step behind. It never occurred to her that the Lady might just be toying with her. The chase dragged on for a few more minutes when the Lady just stopped in a much more deserted area. The female agent wasted no time in pulling out her Tesla and slamming the Woman against one of the walls, weapon pointed at her. "You will explain yourself! How do you know so much about the Warehouse and why are you playing these games?" Myka started to press her arm against the Woman's neck, slowly cutting off her air supply. Under the face cover, the Woman started to turn as red as her clothes. She gripped Myka's arms with her own to stop her from chocking her completely. "Agent Berings.. there's no teacher like experience. I hope that Pete isn't too early to come save you.. " the woman manged to choke out in between gasping for air." Myka stopped cold. 'How did she.. when did she..' She started to press harder against her throat, "How do you know about Sam?" "Oh another time. It seems ours is running short.." In one fluid movement the Lady in the Red Hat pulled from her sleeve, lit and threw an Iceflower artifact at the ground. Knowing what was going to happen, she looked away, Myka on the other hand look directly at it. Instantly she dropped her Tesla and limbs went limp thus freeing the Lady, who only smile and used the Compass to make her escape.

* * *

Claudia idly played with her new dyed streak of red hair while she watched the city go by from the back of her taxi cab. She pulled out the oddly-cut white stone and turned it over in her palm. The young tech whiz smirked and put it away. Growing bored of the scenery, she opened up her laptop to play a little bit of _Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego_.


	11. Copycat

**A/N: Sorry for the delay - Orin had issues with this chapter. He apologizes, and promises that he won't be late in updating again.  
**

* * *

[SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - 2010]

"Myka? Myka?" After H.G. updated him on the current situation, Pete decided that he'd find his partner. A reasonable decision, for they were supposed to be watching over each other in the event that the lady in red decided to show up yet again. "Man, I don't even know what her problem is. She just shows up out of nowhere and gets to taunt us? Not cool," Pete muttered. "I think I need a cook–" The sound of a firecracker igniting caught his attention. He scanned the nearby area, gut wrenching in the now-familiar feeling that usually showed up right before he felt a vibe. As he realized the noise had come from the same direction that the lady and Myka had gone, his vibe kicked in. "Even more not cool. All right, play it cool, Pete. It's probably nothing." He stared, sort of reluctant to get going. _Come on, man, she needs you. What if Miss Crazy stops her in time too?_ That did it.

"Myka, are you all right?" Pete called, head turning from side to side as he tried to locate his partner. "Myka?" And there she was, standing by a wall. "Myka! Myka, there you are!" Pete jogged towards her, not yet noticing her unresponsiveness until he was much closer. "...Myka? Myyyka..." He waved a hand in front of her face. Wait... he'd seen this before. But how could the lady have gotten hold of an Iceflower? It was at that moment that Pete remembered he had the Farnsworth. It was time to call Artie.

"Yes? What is it?" Artie snapped as soon as he answered the Farnsworth.

"Whoa, grumpy. Look, Artie, um... We have a problem..." Pete began slowly, watching Myka out of the corner of his eye for any changes in her condition.

Artie sighed. "Another problem?" Pete opened his mouth to ask, but Artie quickly stopped him. "No. What's your problem, Pete?"

"It's Myka..."

"What happened?"

"Well..."

"Spit it out, Pete."

"The lady in red? She kinda had one of those Iceflower things," Pete said finally, looking away from the screen. He couldn't bring himself to see the look on Artie's face. "And that's... bad." There was silence from the other end, going on so long that Pete finally looked back down at the Farnsworth. "Hello? Artie? Come on, man, don't tell me you hung up already."

"I'm still here. Can you tell me how long ago–"

"Pete?"

Pete covered the screen with his hand and looked behind him. "Hold on, Artie. Myka?"

"Pete, she got away. I had her, and then _I lost her_." Myka frowned, looking confused. The last thing she remembered was the woman mentioning Sam and then... Pete was there, and the woman was gone. What had happened?

"Artie, she's cool now, I'll call you if anything comes up. Okay?" Pete said quickly.

"Wait–" Artie began.

Pete quickly shut the Farnsworth before their boss could say any more. His partner was more important. He had to make sure she was okay. "Myka, are you okay? What happened?"

"I-I don't know. I had her, she referred to Sam, and then... you were here."

"I think she used an Iceflower on you."

Myka furrowed her brows. "That makes sense," she said slowly. "But why didn't she just use the stopwatch on me like she did Helena?"

"I dunno. C'mon, let's get back to the hotel. We can try to piece together what happened there."

[THIRTY MINUTES LATER]

"Pete, did you put this in my pocket?" Myka demanded, waving a folded piece of paper at the back of his head.

Pete didn't bother to look away from the television. "What?"

"Did you put–" Myka repeated.

Pete held up a hand to stop her, and turned around. "I meant "what?" as in, _what_ did I put in your pocket?"

"It wasn't you?"

Pete thought for a moment. "I don't _think_ so? It depends. What is it?"

"A note..." she replied. _Wouldn't he know if he gave me something or not? Well, this _is _Pete we're talking about..._

"Oh, then it wasn't me. What does it say?"

He tried to grab the paper from her hands, groaning when Myka yanked it out of her grasp. "Nice try. Just for that, you can't see it until I'm done with it." Myka read the note she'd found in her pocket, then looked back up at Pete. "We have to get back to the Warehouse. Now."

* * *

[BADLANDS, SOUTH DAKOTA - 2010]

"Read it again," Artie ordered, dropping his bag by his desk.

Leena made a face as she followed him into his office, but read Myka's note aloud for the tenth time. "_Kübler-Ross, stage one.__ Look near the great cat to find the lost place._"

"No... no, this can't – she's long gone," Artie muttered, sifting through the stacks of papers on his desk to make sure. If it did turn out to be _her_, they had a major problem. _She_ hadn't been put away without reason. Indeed, the woman in red had been deemed "incredibly dangerous" and had been removed from the world years previously, stopped in the prime of her life. Call it cruel, but it was in everyone's best interest. Objects tended to disappear when she was around, and a trail of death seemed to follow in her wake. But this was precisely _why_ she wasn't around anymore. If she'd been out a few more years... "She's long gone," Artie repeated, frowning at the records he'd just dug up. "It's a–" he flipped through the packet of papers. "She's–" Now he was moving around his office, pulling on a purple glove before touching various artifacts scattered around the room. "There's just no way... We have ourselves a, a," he paused, holding another file. He stared at the first page, and slammed it on his desk. "A copycat." That was the only explanation he could come up with.

A calm voice disrupted his thoughts. "Are you absolutely sure?" Leena. He'd been trying not to ask himself that same question.

Artie opened his mouth to reply, and then scowled. Was he sure? How could he be sure? "...Not at all. We should... Just..." He motioned towards the door. "Let's go."

[THE BRONZE SECTOR]

"She should be... _here_." The pair stopped in front of a particularly anguished-looking bronze figure. "Now, I've never," Artie circled the statue, rubbing his goatee, "really, ah, dropped by this section of the Warehouse to keep tabs on the people kept here."

Leena held up a hand. "Artie. Wait." She approached the statue and gazed into her eyes, laying a hand on her face. Artie stood in silence, watching the B&B owner do... well, whatever she was doing. He could never understand her explanations, when she gave one.

Leena frowned. "Artie, can you do something for me?" she asked softly.

"Of course," he replied.

"Check the bronzing records for me?" And, with that, she returned her attention to the bronze figure, frowning.


	12. Realization

**Mind here with the weekly update of The Lost Century~ Sorry for the cliffhanger buuuuuuuut I just had to. n_n Enjoy my readers. 8D  
**

**(Orin nor I own anything related to Warehouse 13 or other fandoms mentioned in this fic. )**

* * *

[BADLANDS, SOUTH DAKOTA - 2010]

Artie rubbed the bridge of his nose after scanning over bronze records, "No.. no. This can't be true." The records were all up to date.. except one. There seemed to be a 'hiccup' in the system on September, 30th, 1990. There was no scan check on the bronze statue. There was just nothing. Leena walked over behind and passed Artie and started typing at the keyboard, "Leena! What are you doing!" He exclaimed and tried to shove her away. "Artie." She calmly said without even bating an eye at his shoving, "it's not her."

"What?"

"It's not her."

Continuing the release sequence, they both watched as the bronze statue slowly came back to life. It was a female. But she had long, blond hair with deep blue eyes. She was dressed in red and bore a Panite necklace. The now live statue immediately started thrashing about against her restraints and screaming incoherently. Artie rushed over to her side and tried to calm her down, "shhh it's all right... " while Leena released the shackles holding the woman. Once she were released, she tried to run but with years of her legs being without use, she only succeed in stumbling forward and just missed hitting the floor due to Artie's arms. She fought against him and madly mumbled, "She-she put me in there. She locked me-me away with nothing but her face.. that terrible face! She has the face of a demon.. she wears the color of Hell itself. She takes what she pleases and kills without mercy. All for her. All.. for... her.." Both Artie and Leena looked at her like she grew three more heads. The woman manged to free herself, eyes wild, before ripping off the necklace before either of them could stop her. They could only watch in horror as the woman's body slowly disintegrated into an inky, black ash.

"That's the second time I've seen someone go through that.. and it never gets any easier. " Artie quietly said, "we need to tell the other agents."

* * *

[WAREHOUSE 13 - ARTIE'S OFFICE]

"Oh my god." Myka shuddered and covered her mouth with her hand. Artie nodded grimly, "yes. It was her. The agent that went missing in the Escher Vault. I guess she really wasn't missing after all." All dark humor aside, Artie kept speaking, "we need to find her and we need to find her now. Pete. Myka. Did you figure out what that message means?" Both the agents looked around awkwardly and scratched their necks and heads. Helena, who had stayed quiet through it all, spoke up, "Egypt. It's Egypt. See.. 'Kübler-Ross.. stage one.' It's the stages of grief and the first stage is denial. De nile in The Nile River, yes? And the 'look near the great cat to find the lost place.' part is the Spinx. The lost place I'm still not sure of, but nothing ventured, nothing gained right?" Just as the agents were getting up to make arrangements to head toward the giant desert, Claudia coolly walked in through one the doors, nonchalantly sipping a slushie.

"Claudia!"

"That's my name, don't wear it out... I'm sorry did you want some? It's cherry." Claudia responded to the chorus of her name and held out her slushie almost like she was serious about sharing it.

"Claudia! You-! I-! Where have you been?" Artie quickly strided over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, "do you know how worried I- Myka and Pete were?"

"Careful Artie, you'll spill my slushie, " she scowled and gripped her cup tighter, " and I was out seeing the sights obviously. Though I did bring back you a souvenir." She wiggled out of Artie's near-iron grip and set her slushie down to dig around in her pockets. When she found the object she was looking for, she held it up for all to see. It was the completed Yin and Yang stone artifact. She smirked and tossed it at Pete, "bag and tag it would you?" She picked up her slushie and took a long drink before speaking again, "now I'm sure you have a lot of questions so I'll leave it up to my secretary who will be back on Monday." With that she turned and walked down the tunnel connecting the Warehouse to the outside world. The agents were gobsmacked in the least. Finally, Pete spoke up, "I guess I'll go, uh, put this away.." he shuffled down the stairs and disappeared into the rows and rows of artifacts.

"Artie, you never were able to tell us what that artifact was, what was it? Myka asked.

Artie paused for a second before answering, "It was an bifurcated artifact. Completed, it's harmless but when it separated it causes people around it to act out their worst qualities and emotions and it keeps growing stronger and more widespread unless neutralized or put back together. That would explain why Claudia was attacking so strangely in Korea and the effects must still be lingering. And on that note, how Claudia came by the other piece I don't know, you said the Woman had it?"

"Yes that would be correct, Artie." Mrs. Fredrick, like she always does, stepped out from seemingly thin air behind Artie, "I do have information on the 'lost place' or better known as Warehouse 2."

* * *

[LEENA'S BED AND BREAKFAST]

Claudia flopped face-down onto her bed after arriving to her room in Leena's Bed and Breakfast. Groaning, she flipped over on her back starred up at the ceiling. Growing bored of looking at the white nothingness, she sat up and grabbed her laptop and opened it to start it up. About a few minutes, she received an instant message to her username, wh13nextgen, from a unknown user, DoubleDealinDiva. The young agent squinted her eyes and looked over the unrecognized username. She had full confidence in her ability as a 'tech whiz' to be able to fight off any possible hacking attempt from this instant message if need be. Opening it up, she scanned over the message:

**DoubleDealinDiva** (09:46:16 PM): Oh Claud! Just a heads up, you might want to start tracking these bank accounts. It might help you in the long run~

Claudia was no doubt surprised. Well, it never hurt to check right? She easily pulled up the records of the banking accounts and set trackers on them. Satisfied with herself, she closed the chat window and started on other projects.

* * *

[HOURS LATER - THE DESERT]

It all happened so fast. Helena.. no H. G.'s betrayal, nearly getting killed by Warehouse 2, chasing her all around Paris and then Wyoming, her nearly ending the world, and to top it all off, the suffocating feeling of guilt. Guilt of trusting the wrong person. Guilt of almost causing the death of not only her friends, but the whole world. Myka couldn't cry. It would only impair her vision and force her to stop which could give Pete time to catch up. Stepping on the gas, she tore through the dusty roads. The female now ex-agent couldn't help but replay those awful scenes in Yellowstone over and over in her head.

_'"Think of all the mothers that will lose their daughters... " "..Take my life! But not like a coward!.." Myka, through all of the hysteria, could swear she heard another voice, a female voice. It sounded commanded H. G. . It said something like "Shoot her.. do it. SHOOT HER! She'll only stop our plans! SHOOT HER GODDAMMIT!" But who could focus on that when you're the only person standing in the way of the destruction of the world?'_

Myka shook her head to rid herself of that memory, at least for now. She went for a few more miles until she came onto the scene of a very recent car wreck.


	13. Revealed

**A/N: The final installment of The Lost Century. Stay tuned for the prequel, coming soon to a grocery store near you. Like always, we own absolutely nothing.**

* * *

[BADLANDS, SOUTH DAKOTA - 2010]

Claudia stared glumly at her computer. So far, she'd placed a tracer on Myka's phone, with no result. The agent had probably turned it off so nobody would convince her to return. _Dammit... Might as well see if Doug's online. I need to talk to someone who won't be raving about H.G. Wells being crazy and evil, or trying to work out why Myka left. I need __**normal**_. She signed onto her instant messaging program, and sighed. Nope, _dougievampslayer_ was offline. Oh, well. It was worth a try... but there was no sense in staying online if Doug wasn't on. Her mouse hovered over the "sign off" option.

A new message popped up on her screen.

_DoubleDealinDiva (3:28:09 PM): Meet me at the side entrance of the Warehouse. I need to properly thank you for figuring out what was going on with H.G. Wells._

"Yeah, sure," Claudia muttered. She read aloud as she typed a reply, "I'll be there... in..." She checked the clock. "Twenty minutes."

_DoubleDealinDiva (3:30:45 PM): I'll be waiting._

Claudia signed off and grabbed her keys.

[AT THE SAME TIME]

"Where did Claudia go?" Leena asked after the long silence following Myka's departure. Pete had just returned and was currently sitting in the corner of the office.

"She said she was going to her room," Artie said absently,

"Are you sure it's wise to leave her alone?" Leena wanted to know.

"I'll check on her," he sighed, getting up. "Who knows what sort of trouble she's probably getting into..." He wasn't stupid. He knew Claudia would probably be messing with something she shouldn't as a way to keep her mind off of Myka's departure.

"Call me when you get there."

"Sure," he grumped, pulling on a coat.

She smiled. "That wasn't a question."

Artie just grumbled and walked out of his office.

* * *

[TEN MINUTES LATER]

The bed and breakfast was, unsurprisingly, quiet. If Claudia was here, she was probably doing something nondestructive. Thank god. Well, time to find out. Artie rapped lightly on Claudia's closed door, hesitated, and pushed it open. "Claudia? Claudia, I realize that – that Myka's, ah, departure... might have upset you, but I – but helping out around here will help you take your mind off of – Claudia?"

Artie trailed off when he realized that there was no techie present in the room. However, it was strange of her to leave her computer on... Surely it couldn't hurt to look. After all, it might offer a clue to her location. Claudia was always running around, performing odd tasks on a whim.

He read the words on the screen aloud, brow furrowed. "_Where in the Warehouse _– Oh my god. Claudia!"

[AT THE SAME TIME]

Claudia pulled up to the side entrance of the Warehouse. Indeed, there was someone waiting for her. _She looks familiar_... She shook off that thought and climbed out of her car. "Hey."

The woman turned and smiled at Claudia. "I'm so glad you could make it, dear."

"Yeah, yeah. Hello to you, too," the young woman muttered. This was cutting into her moping time! Wait... She stopped, and stared at the woman before a look of recognition crossed her features. "Oh my god, _I know you_..."

The woman smiled in reply, sending a chill down Claudia's spine. "Yes, you do. It's about time we met face-to-face."

"What do you want?" Claudia wanted to know, almost afraid of the answer.

"You."

"What..." Her vision faded as she felt herself moving towards the door.

* * *

[TWENTY MINUTES LATER]

Myka slammed on the brakes at the sight in front of her. A twisted metal heap lay on the dusty road in front of her, accompanied by a familiar car. A few figures huddled around the wrecked vehicle. _Is that Claudia...?_ Brow furrowed in confusion, she stepped out of her car and crept closer, straining her ears to catch the sounds of their voices.

"Well, now we have no automobile. Are you sure you thought this through, dear?" Helena.

"Of course I did. Helena, meet Claudia's car." That voice, while sounding offended, was familiar as well... Wait. Was it really the woman in red?

"What's going on?" she insisted, staring at the women in front of her with confusion.

Three heads whipped around as one to stare at Myka. _Claudia... Helena... And... the woman in the red hat. Oh my god, why didn't I see it before?_

Blue eyes bored into her own as the woman in the red hat stood silently beside Helena and Claudia. She raised her eyebrows, as if challenging the agent. That did it. Nobody played Myka and got away with it. She rushed forward, drawing her Tesla. She drew closer to the trio, and happened to glance at the unknown woman again. It may have just been a trick of the light, or the way the sunlight lit up her face, but Myka could have sworn she knew the woman... and then it hit her. "No..."

The last thing Myka saw was the furious face of the woman in the red hat as a beam of red light sped at her. _I really don't get paid enough for this job_... And the world went black.

[TEN MINUTES LATER]

"Myka? Myka?" The voice... why did she recognize that voice?

Myka groaned, head lolling to one side. "Wha..." She struggled to open her eyes. Why were there two Petes standing above her? She squinted at them.

"She's waking up!" both Petes said excitedly.

Two Arties now filled Myka's vision. "Myka, what happened?"

"Jeez Artie, impatient much?" the Petes snorted.

"The longer we wait, the more time _they_ have to get away!" Artie and Artie snapped, before melting together into one.

"Artie? Pete? What happened?" Myka asked, dazed. At least she wasn't seeing double anymore. That was a scary thought: multiples of each Warehouse agent.

Pete glanced at Artie. Who would explain? Artie stared back at Pete. Both tried speaking at once, and promptly shut up. Pete narrowed his eyes at his boss, who motioned for him to go ahead. "We tried calling the Farnsworth but you didn't pick up," he explained.

Myka blinked, confused. "I had the – I had the Farnsworth?" She checked her pockets. "I _don't_ have the Farnsworth!"

"Well, _I_ don't have it!" Pete replied. This quickly escalated into a fight between the two agents, reminding Artie of a schoolyard squabble. Honestly, sometimes his agents acted like five-year olds.

"Children, children," Artie cut in. "There's an explanation for all of this, but first... inside! I will explain all." He turned and began stomping back towards the Warehouse. Without turning back, he added, "And don't say another word!"

* * *

[IN THE WAREHOUSE]

"Do either of you have any burning questions before I get started?" Artie asked. "Any thoughts?"

"Not at all," Pete admitted.

"No, I–" Myka's eyes widened as she remembered exactly _why_ she'd been unconscious in the first place. "Wait, Artie, I know who it is. It's–"

"I know," he interrupted, "I know."

"Shouldn't we do something about it?"

"Um, guys? I'm a little lost here..." Pete interjected. "Who exactly are we doing something about? And I know it's that damn woman, it just sounds like you guys know who she is, so I kinda want to know too. Let me be in the little loop you've got going there." At least he knew who they were talking about, even if he didn't know _who_ who she was. And whoever she was, Artie and Myka did not sound happy about it.

"Pete, we have to find Carmen Sandiego."

Pete laughed, expecting Myka and Artie to join in. _Any minute now... any minute... _"Wait...You're serious?"

Was Artie serious? Why wouldn't he be? "Dead serious."

"So, does this mean that Waldo's real too?" Myka punched him and mouthed '_this isn't the time._' "Ow! Okay, sorry for asking! Jeez. So we have to find Carmen Sandiego. Hahaha!" Pete quieted upon noticing the twin death glares directed at him. "Sorry. I was playing that with Claudia the other day. I just didn't expect Carmen to be, you know, _real_."

"No, see, Waldo – Wally, if you want to be technical about it – came about as a result of–" Artie began, before Myka shushed him. He grumbled under his breath for a moment before speaking up again. "Oh, Carmen's real, all right. And she's every bit as dangerous as _H.G. Wells_."

"Oh... I see. So, can I ask a really fast question? It's relevant."

Myka glanced at Pete. Well, he seemed serious this time, so... "Go for it."

"Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?"

Myka groaned and punched Pete.


End file.
